May 10th 2018

 

If you've met me within the last year and a half, you may be wondering why I'm all of a sudden going by Amanda Rodriguez, and not Amanda Benett. Let me try and break it down as simply as possible (aka this is about to get complicated, but stick with me). Amanda Rodriguez is in fact my birth name (I'm half British, half Dominican). When I got married about two and a half years ago my last name changed to a very long, difficult to pronounce (for most people) name. I debated on continuing to use Amanda Rodriguez as my actor name, but utlimately went with my married name. After a year or so I decided that to make it easier for casting purposes, I would take a derivative of that and use Benett instead. I went by Amanda Benett for the last year and a half. As I look ethnically ambiguous, I thought it was a good move so that I wouldn't be pigeon-holed into Hispanic only roles, even though I can portray a multitide of ethnicities. Over time, however, I felt that last name just didn't jive with me and that going back to my maiden name would align more with who I am as an actor. Instead of "masking" my ethnicity in hopes that I would fit into more boxes, I decided that I should embrace it! So now, I am going back to my roots and from here on out will once again go by Amanda Rodriguez. And yes, I am still very happily married to my amazing husband :)

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This can best be summed up in the clip below from "The Crucible". Shoutout to Daniel Day Lewis.

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